London Anniversary Games: Usain Bolt dips under 20s for 200m title, but Kendra Harrison steals show with world record

Usain Bolt clinched the 200m title, while American Kendra Harrison set a new world mark in the women's 100m hurdles

Kendra Harrison is delighted as she poses with the scoreboard after setting a new world record, July 22, 2016Reuters

Usain Bolt cantered to victory in the 200 metres on Friday, but the Jamaican was not the one who grabbed the headlines at the London Anniversary Games â€“ aka the IAAF Diamond League London 2016 â€“ with Kendra Harrison setting a new world record in the women's 100m hurdles. On a night when Londoners poured in to see the great man do what he does best, an American who has not even qualified for the Rio Olympics 2016 grabbed the spotlight.

Harrison will not be a part of the US contingent for the Olympics in Rio next month, after only managing a sixth-place finish in the trials earlier this month, and the fact that that one "bad day" had crushed her Oly dreams, motivated her to trump what was a record that held true for 28 years.

"Only the record will make up for missing out on Rio," Harrison, who crossed the line in 12.20 seconds, .01 better than the previous world mark set by Yordanka Donkova, said in her pre-race press conference, before adding after the brilliant race win on Friday. "To hear people call me a world record-holder, it sounds remarkable. I wanted to come out here and show the world that I still have it, even though I won't be going to the Olympics. I had to give it all I had.

"I was so happy when it came up (the record time) and I was feeling really blessed. It shows that even if you don't go out there and make the team, you have to keep going and be strong. I just ran my best and look what happened.

"I wanted to come out here with a vengeance to show these girls what I have. I knew I had it in me. I ran as hard as I could."

That momentous victory was followed by another record in the women's category when Laura Muir crossed the line in 3:57.49 in the 1500 metres to break the great Kelly Holmes' British record.

While those two performances filled the audience up nicely, the dessert came from Bolt, who stormed to a big lead in his 200 metres, before pulling back considerably to finish in 19.89s. While Bolt will be happy with the win, picked up ahead of Alonso Edward (20.04) and Adam Gemili (20.07), the multiple Olympic champion still has a lot of improvements to make after tiring considerably from the bend.